Ouch, my aching back....

We've been going crazy around her the past few days (actually, Dale has done very little after the initial removal of the sod... work and all that) starting a new landscaping project. Our plan is to remove ALL of the lawn in the front yard and replace it with a rock garden. We are also extending our driveway by about 30inches because apparently I don't know how to share either the garage OR the driveway, causing Dale to park partially on the lawn,,,, which has been disastrous for that section of lawn. Our plan is to tackle the project in 3 stages. Stage I: the first half of the rock garden; Stage II: extending the driveway and next year, Stage III: the second half of the rock garden.

Before... not too bad, but not great either

You can really see the horrid condition of the lawn here

We started off by renting a sod remover thingamajig (no idea of the technical term, but "wondrous, spectacular remover of sod" comes to mind) which Dale put to good use on Friday after work. He removed most of the lawn that we had marked out and left a little for the next morning..... when it decided to snow.... Not to be deterred, he completed his task in the snow and voila! his job was complete (I'm not helping with the concrete, no.I.am.not).

My job then began. I had to clear all of the sod off the new garden area and remove the brick from the small raised bed in front of the house. My next step was to dig out and transplant a spirea shrub and three tea roses (those suckers are SHARP) all while defending myself from the very angry ants who seemed to be very pissed off (I had a gentler word there, but the harsher profanity seemed to fit the situation better) that I would ruin their home so cavalierly. I then had to fork and turn all of the exposed concrete in the new bed (I'm pretty sure it's dirt or at least clay, but it felt a LOT like concrete), I then added some zeolite and topsoil mix and forked it again. Then I had to break up the bits with a rake and level everything out. I ran to Burnco for some paving stones (I only brought home a few in the van... those suckers are HE-AVY and my poor van wasn't happy) and dug them into the prepared dirt base. My final step of the day was the addition of the purdy-ness.... and I am done.... Well, sort of done.... I have to finish the paving stones and add the gravel/rock part of the rock garden, but I wanted to show you the semi-finished product as the rest is going to have to wait until my back stops hurting.....

The kids helped me lay out the plants 

It'll be REALLY pretty in two years when the perennials grow in.

The pavers will wrap around to the side of the house, next week.